Life preserver



D. M. MARSTON LIFE PRESERVER Nov. 21, 1961 Filed Jan. 7, 1960 3,009,175 LIFE PRESERVER Dixon M. Marston, 10124 E. Canfield, Detroit 14', Mich. Filed Jan. 7, 1960, Ser. No. 1,110 1 Claim. (Cl. 9-340) My invention pertains to a life saver which may be applied about the body of a person quickly in a matter of seconds, and which will retain its position about the body of said person without the need of any supporting straps, fasteners, or similar other means.

The life saver is of an inflatable type and is preshaped to embrace the body of a person, but includes end portions which are in opposed yieldabl-e relation to each other. The construction of the life saver is such that said end portions may be spread apart to a distance permitting the life saver to be applied to the body of a person laterally, whereupon the end portions would spring back to their original positions, or substantially to said positions, when said end portions would be in contact with each other or in close spacing to each other.

This application is a continuation-impart of application, Serial No. 660,830, filed on May 22, 1957, now abandoned.

I shall now describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the life saver;

FIG. 2 is a top elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top elevational view of the life saver in which the end portions are spread apart;

FIG. 5 is an end portion of a rubber tube which is a part of the life saver;

FIG. 6 is a top elevational View of a piece of canvas which is to be used as a part of a casing for said rubber tube;

FIG. 7 is a front elevation of a detail of construction pertaining to one end of the life saver;

FIG. 8 shows the manner in which the life saver is to be applied to the body of a person.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The principal elements of the life saver include inflatable rubber tubes and a textile cover for each of them. In its preferred form, the life saver includes two rubber tubes, each of which is provided with a textile covering or casing. The tubes are disposed horizontally, one above the other, but are secured to each other so as to form a unit. Since each tube with its casing is made like the other one, the description of one inflatable tube and a casing therefor will apply to the other tube and its casing.

The casing for each tube is made of two members, such as the one shown in FIG. 6. The member, marked 10, consists of a piece of canvas which may be oval or, if preferred, substantially rectangular, but has a central portion cut out so as to leave an opening 11. In this condition, the member 10 has the form of a rectangular frame which is split, as shown at '12. As a result, the frame has two end portions, each of which is partly defined by a transverse line 13. To form a casing for a single tube, two such members 10 are laid one upon the other so that the edges thereof are in alignment, whereupon the members are sewn together along said edges excepting the end portions along the line 13 of each said member 10. A hem resulting from this type of sewing is marked 14.

The casing, when made from rectangular members 10, will also have the form of a rectangle, but at this stage both ends will be open. Adapted to fit into said casing is a rubber tube 15. This may be also pro-shaped to correspond to the outline of the casing, or it may consist States Patent 3,009,175 Patented Nov. 21, 1961 of a straight line length of a flexible tube. The tube is closed at each end, and is provided at each end with integrally-formed flat tongues 16. One end of such a tube 15 is shown in FIG. 5. The drawing shows two fiat tongues 16 and a valve 17 disposed between the tongues and serving as a means through which the tube may be inflated. The opposite end of the tube, which end is not shown, is not provided with a valve and may include only one single tongue.

The tube in its deflated condition is inserted into the casing endwise and drawn through the casing till the tongues at one end of the tube will project from one end of the casing and tongues at the other end of the tube will project from the opposite end of the casing.

As a next step, the casing is secured to the respective ends of the tube.

As already stated, the life saver includes two tubes, each of which is enclosed in a separate casing, but as the casings with the tubes are to form one unit, they may be sewn to each other or stapled to each other, as shown at 20 in FIG. 3, before the tubes are inserted into them. As for the end portions of the casings, they are secured to the respective ends of the tubes by means of short lengths of a tape or strip 1 8 in the manner shown best in FIG. 7. A length of stout textile tape is applied crosswise over the vertically-adjoining end portions of the two casings disposed one above the other, whereupon the tape is secured to the casings and to the tongues 16 covered by the fabric of the casings by means of rivets '19.

Once the tubes have been secured to the casings, as above stated, the tubes may be inflated by means of valves 17, each of which is provided with -a removable cap 21. When sufficiently inflated, the tubes will impart to the life saver as a whole a certain rigidity, but even if the tubes are made of straight linear stock, the life saver will have the form permissible by the casing, which in this case would be approximately rectangular, as shown in FIG. 2. This is the normal form of the life saver. Now, should a person desire to apply the life saver about his or her body, all that has to be done is to spread the end portions from each other in the manner shown in FIG. 4 to what may be called its open position. After the life saver has been placed about the body, the ends would be released, whereupon they would automatically spring back to their normal position. The best position about the body would be the one in which the end portions are at the front portion of the person. I wish to add that the preferred position of the life saver about the body of a person would be at the level of the armpits.

It will be noted that the diameter of the casing is reduced somewhat at the sides, as indicated at 2.2. This is only for the purpose of making the life saver less bulky and to leave more free space for arm movement. A similar diametrical reduction at 23 at the back of the life saver serves to facilitate flexing of the side portions rearwardly when the end portions are to be spread apart.

I wish to add that the preshaped form of the life preserver maybe brought about by preshaping the inner tube alone, or the casing, or both.

It will be understood that the tube 15 may be made of a self-sealing rubber or a similar substance capable of automatically sealing small punctures in said tube.

After having described my invention, what I wish to claim is as follows:

A life preserver made to fit about the body of a person and having a front portion and a rear portion, a plurality of vertically aligned tubular members, each being preshaped to define a substantially elliptical form open at the front portion of said preserver having two opposed free ends, each of said tubular members consisting of an inflata-ble and flexible tube, an outer textile cover sealingly enclosing each tube from end to end, said covers having free ends corresponding to said tubes, stitching means peripherally interconnecting adjacent covers throughout substantially their line of contact, valve means projecting outwardly from each tube and through its cover for independent inflation of said tubes respectively, the tubular members when inflated being adapted to be spread apart at the front against the tension of said tubes and the air therein for application of the preserver about the body of a person, and capable of automatically springing back to the original shape to snugly and tightly engage around the users body, the tubular members and their covers being disposed one above the other with their respective free ends aligned vertically, opposing tabs projecting from the free ends of said tubes, a strip transversely spanning and interconnecting the free ends of said covers and re- 15 ceiving the corresponding tabs from said tubes, and fastening means extending through said strips and tabs, securing the same together, whereby the vertically aligned end portions of the covers are reinforced.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,060,889 Brauer May 6, 1913 1,960,474 Browne May 29, 1934 FOREIGN PATENTS 14,072 Great Britain l915 771,575 Great Britain Apr. 3, 1957 

